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In 1967 Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon with an official race number, having entered as 'K.V. Switzer'. A few miles in, official Jock Semple grabbed her and tried to tear off her bib, 261; her boyfriend shoved him aside, and she finished.

Boston, 1967

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Boston did not accept women entrants in 1967; Bobbi Gibb had run the year before without a number, slipping in from the bushes near the start. Photographs of Semple lunging at Switzer went round the world. Her boyfriend, Tom Miller, was a hammer thrower. Afterwards the Amateur Athletic Union barred women from all races with men, until Boston officially admitted women in 1972. Switzer finished third that year, and Semple presented her trophy; the two later became friends. In 2017, fifty years after her first run, she ran Boston again at 70 wearing 261, and the organisers retired the number in her honour.

Türkçe oku
Kathrine Switzer 1967'de Boston Maratonu'nu resmî göğüs numarasıyla koşan ilk kadın oldu; yarışa “K.V. Switzer” adıyla kaydolmuştu. Birkaç kilometre sonra yarış görevlisi Jock Semple onu yakalayıp 261 numarasını koparmaya çalıştı. Erkek arkadaşı görevliyi itip uzaklaştırdı, Switzer de yarışı bitirdi.
Boston, 1967

1967'de Boston Maratonu kadınları yarışa kabul etmiyordu. Bir yıl önce Bobbi Gibb, başlangıç noktasının yakınındaki çalıların arasından çıkıp numarasız koşmuştu. Semple'ın Switzer'a saldırdığı anın fotoğrafları dünyayı dolaştı. Görevliyi iten erkek arkadaşı Tom Miller bir çekiç atıcısıydı. Olayın ardından Amerikan Amatör Atletizm Birliği kadınların erkeklerle aynı yarışlara katılmasını yasakladı; yasak, Boston'un kadınları resmen kabul ettiği 1972'ye kadar sürdü. Switzer o yıl üçüncü oldu ve kupasını Semple verdi; ikisi sonradan dost oldu. İlk koşusundan elli yıl sonra, 2017'de, 70 yaşındaki Switzer Boston'u yine 261 numarayla koştu ve organizatörler bu numarayı onun onuruna bir daha kimseye vermeme kararı aldı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Kathrine Switzer
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